Federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., dropped criminal charges against three remaining people accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, days after U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office abandoned a felony case against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn.The dismissals came the same week that President Donald Trump publicly criticized Pirro’s decision to drop the Hearn case and continued to insist that vandals, rather than faulty construction, were responsible for most of the damage at the newly renovated landmark.According to court filings, the remaining cases involved Justin Carreno, Sophie Dennison-Gibby, and Cameron Thiers, and the cases are now marked as “closed” on the D.C. Superior Court’s webpage. The three defendants had each faced misdemeanor accusations of destroying property valued at less than $1,000. Prosecutors moved to dismiss all three cases after reviewing evidence related to the Reflecting Pool damage.
Pirro’s office had already moved Friday to dismiss its felony case against Hearn, a Maryland resident and former Olympic canoeist who represented the United States at three Summer Games from 1992 through 2000. Hearn had pleaded not guilty after prosecutors accused him of forcefully and violently ripping portions of the renovated pool floor.In the motion to dismiss, prosecutors said evidence made available by the Interior Department showed the damage was caused by a “rushed and flawed installation” involving the pool lining. Prosecutors also blamed Interior officials for withholding critical information that they said was not turned over until after they had secured Hearn’s indictment from a grand jury.
